FIG. 1 illustrates a main portion of a refrigerator provided with a conventional ice-making device.
As illustrated in the figure, an inner case 12 is coupled to the inside of an outer case 11 defining the external appearance of a refrigerator main body 10. The inner case 12 is to define the inside of the main body 10, and a freezing chamber 13 that is a storage space is substantially defined by the inner case 12.
Provided on one side of the main body 10 is a door 15 for selectively opening or closing the freezing chamber 13. The door 15 is installed to the main body 10 to be pivotable on one end thereof so that the other end thereof is moved in the fore and aft direction. The door 15 includes an outer door 16 and a door liner 17. The outer door 16 defines the front external appearance of the door 15. Furthermore, the door liner 17 defines the backside external appearance of the door 15.
A shroud 19 is provided inside the freezing chamber 13. The shroud 19 is positioned to be spaced apart by a predetermined distance from the rear side of the freezing chamber 13. Furthermore, the shroud 19 is formed with a plurality of cold air discharge holes 19a through which cold air is discharged into the freezing chamber 13.
Meanwhile, a heat exchange chamber 21 is formed between the rear side of the freezing chamber 13 and the backside of the shroud 19. The lower part of the heat exchange chamber 21 is provided with an evaporator (not shown) for generating cold air. Furthermore, the upper part of the heat exchange chamber 21 is provided with an air-blowing fan 23 for discharging cold air, which is heat-exchanged in the evaporator, to the freezing chamber 13.
An ice maker 25 is provided in the upper part of the rear side of the freezing chamber 13 corresponding to the front of the air-blowing fan 23. The ice maker 25 is installed to extend from side to side on the upper part of the freezing chamber 13 adjacent to the shroud 19. The ice maker 25 serves to make ice and transfer it to an ice bank 31, which will be described later.
A motor casing 29 is installed on one side of the freezing chamber 13 below the ice maker 25. A feed motor 27 for driving a feed lever 31a to be described later is provided in the motor casing 29.
The ice bank 31 is provided in the freezing chamber 13 corresponding to the front of the motor casing 29. The ice bank 31 serves to transfer the ice received from the ice maker 25 to a dispenser (not shown) and to enable a user to take out the ice from the outside. To this end, the feed lever 31a driven by the feed motor 27 is provided in the ice bank 31. One end of the feed lever 31a is connected to a drive shaft of the feed motor 27.
However, the conventional refrigerator so configured has the following problems.
As described above, in the prior art, the ice maker 25 is installed on the rear side of the freezing chamber 13 to extend from side to side. Furthermore, in order to transfer the ice made in the ice maker 25 to the dispenser, the motor casing 29 and the ice bank 31 are respectively provided in the freezing chamber 13. Hence, there is a disadvantage in that a storage capacity of the freezing chamber 13 is reduced as much as the volumes of the ice maker 25, the motor casing 29 and the ice bank 31.
Furthermore, since the ice maker 25 is installed in the freezing chamber 13, the ice maker 25 makes ice by means of cold air circulating in the freezing chamber 13. Hence, in a process of making ice in the ice maker 25, smell of other food stored in the freezing chamber 13 can permeate the ice.